2011 Australian Open - Part 1

[Rohan25]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

...watching Nikolai Daveydenko play tennis makes me want to do serious damage to my TV. And to think he's been in the top 5 for around a decade..........No surprise, he always does well at the Oz Open.......

I like watching Davydenko, his footwork is brilliant, and his running backhand is a sight to behold. To each their own I guess. The real point I wanted to make is that Davydenko's best GS results have actually come at the French and US opens, where he has made the semi final twice each. He's never made it that far in Australia.

 

[Drummond]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

Do you have any actual evidence of this, or ir it just what you've heard around the traps? If more than half the players prefer winning the Oz Open over Wimbledon or the US Open, I'll eat my hat.


Unlike you I don't work there. I also don't have a vested interest in making it sound better than it is. Of course a lot of work goes into running a Grand Slam event. That's completely irrelevant to the topic. Is it any more work than any of the other three? No. We're not discussing how hard the organisers work, we're discussing how it rates compared to the other slams.




The reputation has certainly improved, I agree with you there. Not like the bad old days of the eighties, when players like McEnroe showed open disdain for showing up.



Oh please. So you need a note from your mum saying you're injured - big deal. You think every player in history who has missed a Grand Slam has been legitimately injured? As I said earlier - because of the distance involved and the fact it's so close to the off season, it's STILL the Grand Slam most likely to be skipped (Serena Williams this year)- and of course players will use injury as the reason. They're not going to say "I'm not coming because I can't be assed travelling to Australia and I'm still worn out from last season, which only finished weeks ago," which was exactly the reason Sampras skipped in 1999 despite being one slam away from equalling the then all time record.




The US Open haven't got a roof because they don't want one. The roof completely changes the conditions of the match - suddenly it's indoors and the balls play different, the surface is a different speed. Not to mention the problem of players who played on outside courts fronting up for a match against a guy who played indoors. It's great for spectators, but a roof at an outdoor tournament isn't necessarily a point in favour of the tournament, or what the players want. Why do you think the US Open doesn't have one? Wimbledon's was only installed to deal with the unique frequency of rain delays that mar that particular tournament year after year - but even they resisted for a very, very long time for the afforementioned reasons.




Mistake is very generous. It was an utter disgrace and an embarrassment, and wouldn't have happened anywhere but the Australian Open. It's a joke that it took this level of bungle for them to fix the situation. That kind of fiasco had been threatening to occur for years. It also cost Hewitt any chance of winning the tournament that year.



It's great if you're not really into tennis, and only watch it for two weeks a year. But for the purists, Wimbledon and the US Open are the premier Grand Slams of the year - the slams when the whips are really cracking for the top seeds. You have to be playing the tennis of your life to cause an upset there. Where else could Thomas Johansson have won a Grand Slam but the Australian Open?!!




So it should be. A Grand Slam in January is a total pain the a*s for players.



Yes, I have.

Too stuffed to reply to anything else but Craig Tiley, in an AO video, said that the surveys taken by the players showed that the AO was the vast majority of the players favourite Slam. Fact. The AO is a sensational event, the atmosphere, the crowds, the colour, the friendliness towards the players from every angle, it's a tremendously smoothly run event and when the new redevelopments are done to FURTHER aid the players comfort, it'll be that much better.

 

[iluvparis]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

I like watching Davydenko, his footwork is brilliant, and his running backhand is a sight to behold. To each their own I guess. The real point I wanted to make is that Davydenko's best GS results have actually come at the French and US opens, where he has made the semi final twice each. He's never made it that far in Australia.

First thought I had as well - FAIL

 

[Caesar]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

I think it's you that is moronic. No way should there be a 5th set tiebreaker because of one freak match.

Anyway the AO is already terrific, and when the redevelopment is complete it'll be even better.

I know people who have been to ALL Slams and many said the AO was their favourite. Why? The atmosphere. Now I don't know what players think, I know a few view it as their favourite, but to say so adamantly that it's the worst Slam is a little off.

Every Slam is unique. It's funny because you and probably many other Australians feel ours is the weakest link in the Slams. Yet if you were to do a poll of people around the world and I'm willing to bet the AO would be people's favourite or second favourite GS and very, very few would have it last.

I like the Australian Open but it's hard to compete with Wimbledon and the Roland Garros. The former is king with the history and tradition, and the latter is the slam every European player grows up wanting to win.

When I think of what's good about the Australian Open, I pretty much come up with "it's like the US Open without the crap bits".

I kind of wish it was still played on grass TBH.

 

[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

Roland Garros is my least favourite. Boring surface with the worst crowd in the world. The other 3 all have their pros and cons compared to one another.

 

[Caesar]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

I actually quite like playing on clay, but I also don't enjoy the French much. Nonetheless it's a big players' favourite.

 

[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

I like watching Davydenko, his footwork is brilliant, and his running backhand is a sight to behold. To each their own I guess. The real point I wanted to make is that Davydenko's best GS results have actually come at the French and US opens, where he has made the semi final twice each. He's never made it that far in Australia.

Davydenko is awesome to watch when on song. He hits the ball so early and cleanly and deserves respect for being a consistent top 10 player despite not being blessed with any outstanding physical attributes. I mean, look at the size of him. He's also a hard worker with great fitness.

And his wife is ridiculously good looking

 

[Righteo]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

Davydenko is awesome to watch when on song. He hits the ball so early and cleanly and deserves respect for being a consistent top 10 player despite not being blessed with any outstanding physical attributes. I mean, look at the size of him. He's also a hard worker with great fitness.

And his wife is ridiculously good looking

I like Davydenko too, which is why it so frustrates me that he is so mentally weak; constantly bombing out in the 4th round/quarters in the major tournaments.

A guy that talented should have at least made a few major finals by now

 

[tigers71]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

I like Davydenko too, which is why it so frustrates me that he is so mentally weak; constantly bombing out in the 4th round/quarters in the major tournaments.

A guy that talented should have at least made a few major finals by now

I think why Davydenko does not make to the finals is the big guys beat him up by their serves and he cant cope with it. He is a damn fine player and he will always play well on every serface. He played Tommy Haas at the Australian Open at the quarter finals and was leading 2 sets to 1 and broke Tommy's serve in the 4th set. In the end Davydenko lost!!!

 

[crowsfan2004]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

I like the Australian Open but it's hard to compete with Wimbledon and the Roland Garros. The former is king with the history and tradition, and the latter is the slam every European player grows up wanting to win.

When I think of what's good about the Australian Open, I pretty much come up with "it's like the US Open without the crap bits".

I kind of wish it was still played on grass TBH.

maybe in the recent times it has become popular, back in t he 80s many players didnt bother to come over and play the AO

 

[Caesar]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

The development of a proper Australian tour has helped. Back in the day you sort of had to gamble on winning a match or two at the AO in order to make the cost of coming out worthwhile. Now the AO is more lucrative, and there's a few different tournaments paying decent prize money. Even if you have an unsuccessful trip you still can cover costs.

A lot of the guys playing on the Futures and Challenger tours still give Australia a miss though. It's a long way to come to bomb out in the qualifiers.

 

[XFactor1979]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

radek stepanek engaging in a dk measuring contest against robin soderling in brissy

nicole vaidasova is in the crowd

oh and the crowd in brisbane is pathetic! apparently tickets are overpriced, and the venue is hard to get to

 

[Slippery Pete]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

radek stepanek engaging in a dk measuring contest against robin soderling in brissy

nicole vaidasova is in the crowd

oh and the crowd in brisbane is pathetic! apparently tickets are overpriced, and the venue is hard to get to

Shouldn't have moved from Memorial Drive.

 

[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

Soderling winning Brisbane has made the AO draw a bit more interesting. Murray will now be seeded 5th, which means he could meet Nadal/Federer/Djokovic in the QF instead of the SF.

 

[puntnut]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

I reckon Soderling's a massive chance to win the AO this year.

 

[Caesar]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

The guy's a machine at the moment. Interestingly I think he is probably one of the few players on the circuit who would currently prefer to play Nadal than Federer. Nadal's deep-lying baseline power game will suit him.

Federer is more likely to mix things up, slice his backhand, serve-and-volley, etc. Soderling looked a little uncomfortable today when having to generate his own pace or come to the net - I'll be interested to see him take on a player who capitalises on that.

 

[X_box_X]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

I was shattered earlier.

Saw the TAB were offering the phenomenal odds of 160-1 on the Henin/Soderling double. That was at 2pm. Had to start work at 4, so I decided I'd wait until then to put money on it. Got to a TAB at 3:45, put my money on it, and it printed out as odds of 48-1. What a big difference.

Wish I had a phone account

 

[pepsi]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

Just had a quick look at luxbet and if you go to the individual markets of mens and womens open winner and put it as a multi comes up at 102-1.

 

[X_box_X]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

Does SportingBet allow you to multi futures? The double there was $137-1 yesterday.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

Pick your own odds, Soderling is as much chance to win the mens as Dokic is going to win the womens. He will fall over and captitualte in the quarters/semis.

 

[pepsi]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

How is making 2 French Open finals falling over before and capitulating in the quarters and semis? He has had a different build up to this year's AO. Last year he played the Exho in Hong Kong then played in the Chennai tournament and lost in the 1st round. This year he played in Brisbane and won the title without getting his serve broken the whole week. And being the 4th seed he wont meet Fed/Rafa/Joker before the semis. Think he is a reasonable shot.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

Yeah, and so what. That Brisbane tournament was ordinary..I mean Stepanek made the semis easily for crying out loud. Yeah he beat Roddick, well good on him. He is not going to win unless all 4 of Djokovic, Murray, Federer and Nadal lose early. He just won't. In his 2 finals he got lapped, he was awful.

 

[SBI]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

...and beat Nadal and Federer on the way to each of those finals respectively. Kinda blows out the theory that he needs those four to lose early, doesn't it?

I don't think he'll actually win the Open, but he's proven before that he can do more than "capitulate" in the quarters and semis.

 

[Total Power]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

Yeah, and so what. That Brisbane tournament was ordinary..I mean Stepanek made the semis easily for crying out loud. Yeah he beat Roddick, well good on him. He is not going to win unless all 4 of Djokovic, Murray, Federer and Nadal lose early. He just won't. In his 2 finals he got lapped, he was awful.

if soderling faces federer, he will be lucky to win a set.Heres hoping Murray and Nole are in Feds half of the draw

 

[Kopout]

Re: 2011 Australian Open!!

Bernard Tomic got his predictable wildcard.

It's such a pity AO organisers refuse to grow a spine.

There's a distinct difference between nurturing a player and handing him everything on a silver platter.

No doubt his dad has already prepared a list of suitable times for them to schedule his son's match(es).